I had my share of trying different hotpot restaurants around the metro.  So when Jiang Nan Hotpot became a hot topic in our circle of Chinese friends, I knew that my family must try it.

We went to their branch in Banawe at around 4:00pm.  We decided to have an early dinner because we heard that this restaurant gets packed.  And that was a good decision because as soon as we got to the restaurant, the 1st floor is almost full and by the time we left the restaurant, people are already lining up outside. Take note that there is a time limit of 2 hours per table.  For us, we didn't fully consume the 2 hours.  I think it is enough time to get your fill of food.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the restaurant itself because there are a lot of people.  The setting is like you are in China.  The design seems authentic enough to make it seem like you are eating in an authentic Chinese restaurant.

Even though it is a buffet, all the food are being served by the waiters.  They only have the sauces served buffet style.

They would give you their original sauce which contains soy sauce, sesame oil, peanut sauce, etc. and you can add spices that suits your taste.  I added a bit garlic and chili oil to mine and a bit soup since the sauce it too thick.  The outcome is very savory and I love it!

They do offer a variety of meats which most people want when eating hotpot.  From US beef to Philippine beef and even fresh pork.  The most disappointing part for me is the variety and quality of balls/dumplings.  We tried the shrimp dumpling, the stick one in the picture and it is tough to chew and it doesn't taste that good.  The only ball that we really liked is the squid ball.  For its price, they should have offered a good variety of balls like fish balls or real dumplings (the round type).  But I am glad that there is fish and squid for those who can't eat beef.

Here are the choices that we tried.

They offer five different kinds of soup.  Since my family doesn't like vegetables that much, the options tomato and mushroom are out.  We ordered their original and mild spicy.  A warning for the mild spicy, it is not really that mild.  For my taste it is already my limit in spicy but tastes better.  Though the more we asked to add soup, the level of spiciness goes down but it was enough for me.  I usually love a good sate soup for my hotpot and this is the first time to have a different flavor and I love it!  Beats the spiciness of the sate soup.

The Jiang Nan Hotpot Banawe branch also have a grill but it is additional of Php300 per person.  We didn't avail of the grill because it is going to be expensive and the choices are limited.  Their rate for the weekday is Php599 per person and on the weekends is php699 per person.  So, if we avail of the grill, the rate will be almost Php1,000.  Pretty expensive for a lesser variety choice.

Overall, I would be going back here again.  Hopefully soon to have the authentic hotpot taste.  If you are a meat lover then this place is for you.